MANILA – TNT KaTropa easily gained the edge in the 2019 Honda PBA Commissioner’s Cup best-of-seven finals with a 109-96 Game 1 victory over the San Miguel Beermen last night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Terrence Jones fell short of triple-double with 42 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, while Jayson Castro added 20 markers.
The KaTropa took a 1-0 edge in the race-to-four finals series.
Jeth Troy Rosario, Roger Pogoy and Celedonio Trollano also finished with double-figures scoring with 16, 13 and 11 markers, respectively.
The KaTropa is in search of its first PBA title since 2015.
Both teams were trading leads early in the match with both tied at 19-all before the KaTropa zoomed to a 16-0 run behind Jones, Pogoy and Trollano for a 35-19 advantage.
After KaTropa established a 37-19 edge early in the second period, the Beermen countered with a rally to trim the deficit to 14.
The TNT, however, responded with a run from Pogoy, Rosario and Castro for a 60-42 halftime edge.
The KaTropa continued its torrid shooting in the third period behind Castro and Jones as the lead reached 78-55.
The Beermen threaded to within 16 but the TNT answered with shots from Jones and Trollano for a 97-74 advantage early in the fourth.
The Beermen made its last push midway in the final period to cut the deficit to 83-99. The KaTropa answered with baskets from Rosario and Pogoy as the lead went back to 20 points.
Chris McCullough finished with double-double 33 points and 14 rebounds as five-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo chipped in 23 markers for the Beermen./PN
